Low Carb Options and Swaps:
There are some outstanding low carb options out there if you know what to look for. My husband loves Mexican food and trying to find a good tortilla that tastes good, without being gummy, was tough. We did finally find some delicious tortillas made by Mission in the Carb Balance line. They have soft taco flour tortillas that make great tacos and fajitas and some burrito size whole wheat. They only have 6 net grams of carbs per tortilla!
Who doesn’t love mashed potatoes with their Prime Rib or with a good steak? The only issue is all the carbs in potatoes. If you are following a low carb diet for weight loss or medical reasons, something creamy like mashed potatoes with your proteins is something we all crave. Also, it is easy to get in a rut with how many ways can you have protein and veggies. Here are some of the ideas we have come up with to solve this.
Cauliflower mash is one thing we have recently discovered that makes a pretty good swap for mashed potatoes with your favorite proteins. For convenience, Green Giant has a pretty good frozen cauliflower mash that you microwave for about 12 minutes. You can take a head of cauliflower and boil the florets and puree it with sour cream or whatever flavorings you want to, also makes a good mash. If you don’t boil it until it is mushy, run it through a food processor, it comes out close to the texture of grits.
Once in a while, I will pick up some white-fleshed sweet potatoes, which are lower in sugar/carbs than the traditional orange-fleshed sweet potato, to make some mash out of. Oven roasted butternut or acorn squash turns into another good mash to substitute for potatoes.
During the cooler months, I will grab a bunch of different fresh veggies and roast them to go with my proteins. There are so many good veggies in the fall and winter months to use, Brussel sprouts, Crimini mushrooms or any type mushrooms, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, and the list goes on.
Cauliflower and broccoli can substitute in for Couscous or Rice. These can be bought in the store to save on prep time, or you can make it at home. There are so many ways to get creative with this, you can add in some fresh corn, green onions, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, or any vegetable you choose; you can oven roast it or pan fry it (like fried rice).